Beschreibung:

François Boucher (Paris 1703-1770) and studio The Muse Erato oil on canvas 36 ¾ x 51 7/8 in. (93.4 x 131.7 cm.) Provenance (Possibly) Madame La Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764); her sale (†), Pierre Remy Paris, 28 April 1766, lot 18, as 'The Muse Terpsichore', with its pendant 'The Muse Polymnia'. (Possibly) Louis-René, Marchal de Sainscy; his sale (†), M. Desmarest, Paris, 29 April 1789, lot 22, with a second muse. (Possibly) Jean-Claude-François-Perrin, marquis de Cypierre (1783-1844); his sale (†), M. Bonnefons-Delavialle, Paris, 10 March 1845, lot 14. Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800-1870), Paris, and by descent to, Sir Richard Wallace 1st Baronet (1818-1890), Paris, and by inheritance to, Lady Wallace (1819-1897), and by inheritance to, Sir John Murray Scott (1847-1912), and by inheritance to, Victoria Sackville-West, Lady Sackville (1862-1936). with Jacques Seligman, Paris, 1914. with Knoedler, Paris & New York, no. 13513, from whom purchased in 1922 by the following, Count John McCormick (1884-1945). Mr W.R. Timken, New York, acquired in 1924. René Gimpel (1881-1945); (†) Sotheby's, London, 20 June 1951, lot 42, where acquired by the following, M.J.B. Lester, London. Count Aldo Crespi, Milan. with Newhouse Galleries, New York, 1980. Mr S.T. Fee, Oklahoma City, by whom sold anonymously; Christie's, New York, 9 May 1985, lot 14, as 'The Muse Terpsichore'. with Stair Sainty Matthiesen, New York, by 1987. Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 11 January 1991, lot 82, as 'François Boucher & Studio' ($330,000). Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 29 January 2009, lot 67, as 'François Boucher' ($1,314,500), when acquired by the present owner.